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Died 2/25/21
Handler – Deputy Tyler Bos
Osceola County K-9 dog will be missed
Man’s best friend or man’s best co-worker? Hunter, the K-9 unit for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office based in Sibley, was both, which made saying goodbye a little harder when he died unexpectedly on Feb. 25.“He was just overall a wonderful dog,” said deputy Tyler Bos, Hunter’s handler. “Not too many guys get the option to take their partner home with them and have everyday life with them.” Bos and Hunter worked together for six years. Both started with Osceola County the same year. Bos, who is 29, had just graduated from police academy when he was approached by former sheriff Doug Weber about being the handler for the county’s next K-9 dog. It was a chance Bos had no intention of turning down. His dad, Richard Bos, fundraised door to door to start Osceola County’s K-9 program in 1994 and was the handler for the county’s first working dog, Curtis. Curtis retired from police work in 2001 and Osceola County got its second K-9, a dog called Kyzer, in 2004. Kyzer retired in 2013 and died in retirement in 2016. Hunter, a chocolate Lab-bloodhound mix, was the force’s third K-9 unit. Bos picked him out at a rescue shelter in Pleasant Hill when Hunter was 1 or 2 years old. “As soon as I saw Hunter, I said ‘Yes, that’s who I want.’ I never had any doubts,” Bos said. “I knew that day that’s who I was going to have as a partner.” Hunter’s first day on the job was July 18, 2014. Bos joked that, like everyone, there were some days when Hunter didn’t want to go to work, but when duty called his enthusiasm always returned. “He knew when the light and sirens went on it was time to go,” Bos said. “When he was at trials and doing tracking, that was the happiest you’d ever see him. The other time you could say he was in pure happiness like that was when he was playing in the summer or eating ice cream.” And Hunter was extremely good at his job. He was trained in narcotics detection and scent discrimination, and was used to find drugs and track people. “He had a hell of a nose. His nose was almost as big as his head,” Bos said. The two were certified through Midwest Canine in Beaver, MN, and competed regionally in the U.S. Police K-9 Association trials every year in Manchester. In 2016, Bos and Hunter won first place for Individual Overall Drug Detection and first place in Team Drug Detection. “He was the best dog out of 48 dogs that year,” Bos said. “I can say that he never missed a hide at trials. He was 20 for 20 in finding hides at trials all them years.” But when he was off-duty, Hunter knew how to have fun, and Bos was a big part of that. The dog lived with Bos and his wife, Kendra, and enjoyed taking walks through the neighborhood or napping on any surface he could find. “He was a bed hog, I’ll tell you that,” Bos said. “He slept on the bed at night with us. I think he had more surfaces to take a nap on than what we did.” Hunter was a familiar face around the sheriff’s office and in the community as well. During their night shifts at the sheriff’s office, Hunter would always greet the other officers and dispatchers before finding a place to nap near Bos. “A lot of the community knew him that knew me. Everybody loved Hunter,” Bos said. Bos and Hunter also visited the Sibley-Ocheyedan School District several times a year for K-9 presentations or just to train in a school setting to keep Hunter at the top of his game. Those six years of working side-by-side with Hunter are full of memories for Bos. “He started my family; he came before my wife did,” Bos said. Hunter died unexpectedly due to a medical condition that Bos said popped up suddenly.“We have a good idea what happened, everything was done correctly to figure that out, but it was just unexpected and no one saw it coming,” Bos said. He extended his thanks to the Sibley Veterinary Clinic for all they did for Hunter at the end of his life and throughout his career.He added that it’s too early to know if and when the county will seek out a new dog and who would be their handler. However, being Hunter’s handler for six years is something Bos considers one of the best experiences of his life. “The county appreciated having a dog, and I know Hunter appreciated having a job,” Bos said. “He will be greatly missed.”
